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Okwu: A Chip Of The Old Block
When the Yoruba say that a lion cannot beget a goat, the import is that a father would naturally expect his son to take after him. In many instances this has become the case. For instance, while the Bush family tree in America grows politicians, that of Williams in Nigeria breeds lawyers.
Though the names of some of the most visible political families, appear to have been deleted from the current political turf, there are still some, who seem to have found it difficult to break the family tradition. Chief Maxi Okwu, one of them.
It takes just a few minutes to convince anybody that he is indeed a true son of his father, Chief Basil C. Okwu, a prominent activist in the first republic that fought for the independence of the country, an astute politician that that became a pioneer minister in that republic under the government formed by the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) and later a Senator on the platform of the defunct Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) in the second republic.
A few minutes with the scion of the former Senator leaves a permanent picture that this is not only a memory he cherished, but one he would want to expand its essence. Thus, in an hour encounter, he had spoken about the “correct pedigree” so constantly that it seemed to become a refrain for signing off every line of thought.
An attempt to talk with Okwu over his presidential ambition under the Citizens Popular Party (CPP), had failed on three occasions because of schedule constraints. When it finally clicked, it turned not to be a wasted effort. At his suite in one of the big hotels at Ikeja, Okwu was on this day, heavily involved in deep discussions with his associates, probably plotting how to combat the coming assignment.
Excusing himself, he apologized for all the cancelled appointments, setting the stage for what was to be an encounter laced in robust and hilarious exchange of ideas, that seemed to have no doubt that he has not only been around, but has a full grasp of his environment. Indeed Okwu appears quite aware of his limitations even though he does not want such to be a barrier to his politics.
Asked for instance why he insists in running the election, when it appears obvious that his people, Ndigbo have been worsted again in the political configuration of the country, he said he was not daunted, even though he acknowledged the apparent bleak firmament on which he is playing.
“Well, I agree that the political horizon looks bleak for candidates of Igbo extraction. The reason is that the dominant parties or the well establish parties have all nominated Nigerians of non-Igbo extraction. And we of the nascent parties are not given much of a chance. But Nigerians will be in for a shock about what is going to happen come April 2007.
There is spiritual antecedent for our confidence. In the biblical times in Israel, when the Philistine an Israeli armies filed out, David verses Goliath, anybody looking at the scenario would have given victory to Goliath. But at the end of the day, Goliath lay back to the ground, with his head cut off by the young David.
So lets see what happens, anything can happen. If there was no iota of possibility that I could make it, I will not be in the race. I am in the race, running, I am not joking. And I am given it my best shot,” he says.
Naturally, the next question was that it would be inappropriate for somebody seeking such a high office of presidency to hang his hope on mere chance instead of a planned and sustained strategy. He disagreed, saying that he had his plans, which also includes cashing in on the lapses of others in the race.
Okwu’s submission is that notwithstanding the claims of other people, Nigerians will never know peace if any part of it is still nursing a sense of loss. In appeasement that saw the Youba producing the president in 1999goes full circle to ensure that every zone had taken their share at the topmost office in the country, the presidency, the country would continue to be in limbo.
“It is not a healthy development, but that process of appeasement must be concluded. It cannot stop halfway. So that programme of appeasement must run through South East and South South. And that is the agitation. The insurgency in the Niger Delta and the angst in Igboland are all symptoms of that disappointment and until Nigeria comes level, that appeasement must be and run through that every section of the nation is covered. So I think that Nigeria will do well to logically conclude that policy,” he said.
Click here to read Maxi Okwu's C.V.
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